Page 11 - MERCIAN Eagle 2019

The soldiers of 1 Platoon brave the Estonian Winter
through a dense woodblock showing the competence and skills they and learnt during the week.
1 Platoon and the NCOs found themselves and their experience in high demand around the Battlegroup, from Cpl Barr assisting in Urban Operation instruction to LCpls Sheppard and McCabe designing and running Live Fire for the KRH’s NCO cadre (a very memorable experience for KRH potential NCOs). The obvious skill
and breadth of experience in the Platoon’s NCOs paid dividends helping the Platoon excel on exercise and in camp.
Platoon in the vehicle sheds, this showed throughout with 1 Platoon having the best vehicle availability of any Platoon on Op CABRIT.
The Platoon also took the opportunity
to see the country of Estonia, with Platoon socials in the capital Tallinn and beach resort of Parnu, plus many other extremely eventful weekends away the soldiers of
1 Platoon have gained memories of Estonia that they will not forget in a hurry.
As the year ends, A Company and
1 Platoon find themselves back in the UK looking forward to a well-earned rest. As we push towards Christmas, we are keeping busy preparing ourselves for next year and onwards to Op TORAL. Reflecting on the last year, it is impressive to see just how
far 1 Platoon have come, from a newly reformed platoon with elements of the whole battalion represented to a focussed collection of soldiers drawn together under the mantra “work hard, play hard”. After a busy year the Platoon looks forward to the future, knowing it will be just as busy with as many changes which we all welcome, safe in the knowledge that we will always be “the Platoon of first choice in the Company of first choice”.
1 Platoon
During Op CABRIT the Company
was able to make great use of the many derelict Soviet-era buildings, providing realistic and demanding training for the
men of 1 Platoon. It began early on in a
joint exercise with the Estonian defence academy fighting through the remains of
a chicken farm, moving to a week in the south of the country
conducting live fire and
Simmunition attacks
through an Estonian
training facility. The
final test for 1 platoon
in a complex urban
environment was
Exercise Dynamic
Grenadier held in an
abandoned Russian
military camp. It saw
the Platoon pushed in
several serials, with the
highlight being 1 Platoon chosen to conduct a CTR onto the village with LCpls Green and Goodwin finding a vital unguarded break-in point allowing the Company to launch a successful attack.
For the duration of Op CABRIT 1 Platoon was not only part of the KRH Battlegroup but also part of a tank-based combat team. It did not take long for the soldiers
of 1 Platoon to get used to the slightly different pace of life in the cavalry, from
the increased quality of exercise food, to Sgt Rai’s silver service experience at a set of Orders! Joking aside, this was a great experience and chance to work in closer cooperation with another teeth arm, from the Brigade level exercise of SPRING STORM to the Squadron group level. At the start of June, the Platoon welcomed a new member, Sgt McCalpine-Gasse added a new level of enthusiasm for SERE and other survival experiences within the Platoon. The Platoon learnt essential survival skills as well as killing and butchering a chicken in the woods with mixed results... but whilst Sgt McCalpine-Gasse may have returned to the UK, the memories of dismembered chickens remain.
The huge breadth and scope of exercises in Estonia gave an unparalleled chance for 1 Platoon to
hone their Armoured Infanteering skills, with 4 new LCpls within
the Platoon becoming qualified and the other commanders having
a great experience pushing themselves and their vehicles in
the unfamiliar terrain. All this would not have been possible without the hard work of the Platoon’s Warrior Sergeants (Sgt Geoghegan and Cpl Willis) and the
During Op CABRIT
the Company was able
to make great use of the many derelict Soviet-era buildings, providing realistic and demanding training
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
9